Confidante
by Alta-Lemur
Summary: Tetsu has a confidante with whom to share dark moments.


Title: Confidante

Author: Alta Lemur

Disclaimers: I don't own these folks!

Summary: Tetsu has a confidante with whom to share dark moments.

Misc: Props go to Alan for being cute, and Tom for acting this scene out for me.

A/N: Set after episode 29 Mirror Revenge. Time wise, it is set before and offstage on episode 30 Girl Hazard.

Lisa Teagle hummed into her tea, appreciating how the flavor added to the serenity of the moment. One hand set the nearly empty cup on a side table as the other was still busily running through short hair. She was relaxed and felt content, but most notable to her was the pleasant warmness in her lap. As her hand ran through the short hair again, Lisa looked down at the face resting on her lap, face towards her knees. Tekkan's hair was rumpled by now, and falling partially in his face, only half visible as he lay on his side. Tekkan's cheek pressed against her thigh like a dozing cat, but she knew the eyes under his lids were awake. Lisa hummed contentedly to herself again and continued her relaxing task.

Lisa pressed her weight more firmly against the pillows propped between her back and her headboard. At the same time she stretched her legs, yet not disturbing the still young man in her lap. After stretching, the second hand joined the other on Tekkan, resting on his neck and traveling downward in a soothing pet, flowing back upwards and repeating the action. Tekkan's answering hum was nearly a purr. The young man under her touch adjusted himself more comfortably on her and the surrounding pillows.

Sighing herself, Lisa looked around them. Nothing had adorned her walls for nearly a hundred years. And most of her room was still bare, remaining a place to sleep and occasionally read a mission report. But it had changed in the last few years. The pillows now cushioning Tekkan's curled body were the most notable changes, splashes of color and softness in her Spartan room. Lisa scoffed under her breath. But when her subordinate wasn't in her room, these things went into storage, and out of sight.

Continuing her actions, Lisa looked at Tekkan and spoke, "I thought maybe you'd grown out of this." The Specialist under her hands didn't respond. She continued, "You didn't particularly seek out my bed when I came to Earth. Now out of the blue you come to me and have to share your experience with Jeaneio." Lisa paused, feeling muscles tense under her fingers. Knowing she had hit a nerve, she drew closer to her point. "Specialists don't keep secrets from each other, but the Earth rangers wouldn't know much about you, would they? Worried they might think you sleep with your Chief?"

Tekkan's eyes snapped open, and Lisa could tell he had to stop himself from sitting up from his position. "It's not like that!" his startled voice responded. Then after a pause, "You know it's hard to explain this to most people." His arm that didn't rest under his body touched her knee lightly, asking her patience and understanding. "That is… I know it's easy to judge what's between us as it seems on first sight. But that's not why I didn't seek you out on Earth."

Lisa waited for Tekkan to continue. She didn't have a habit of making the confessions he gave to her easy.

"It's just that it's… not the same. When it's not your bed, here, that is. It's just not the same." Tekkan sighed into her thigh, as if to demonstrate the point. His hand followed the lightest of strokes just below her knee.

Lisa didn't drop the issue. "And you told them you had a specialist mission to go to?" His hand stopped. "That was unprofessional. Treating this as a holiday and calling it a mission, deception such as this isn't like you."

There was the slightest of tremors where Tekkan was pressed against Lisa. She knew the second part to today's confession was beginning. Her hands did not change their motions.

"They just wouldn't understand." Tekkan gulped air before his next sentence. "Ban, Umeko, and all the others… they…" Tekkan pressed the side of his face firmly against her thigh as his hand gripped at her leg. He sounded almost frantic. "They'd look down on me, if they knew I needed this, if they saw how miserable I can get." The wetness and added warmth now soaking into Lisa's lap were as familiar to her as the texture of Tekkan's hair. She continued her hand's work as Tekkan struggled against a sniffle and continued his task.

More calmly now, his voice carried over her thigh. "They think I'm something. I'm a Specialist. I'm the one who acts professionally. I'm the one who can recognize any bomb under the sun. I'm the one with the gold badge. They'd never be able to see me like this."

Lisa didn't try to fill the following silence. Tekkan had calmed under her touch, but his shoulders showed he had more to say. A minute passed before he spoke up again.

"I almost lost it when Jeaneio showed up. Everyone was disappearing. I… I almost couldn't hold myself together, and in front of Ban. He tried to cheer me up, like I had lost something as simple as my favorite toy." Tekkan laughed dryly. "You know, I thought about you, about the other Specialists, after the battle. You're the only one who gives me comfort like this."

Lisa saw the opportunity to argue the point of Tekkan returning to the Specialist's base again, but knew that conversation would go nowhere. One hand stayed in Tekkan's hair and the other picked up her tea again. She sipped sparingly and allowed time to pass outside. When she finally finished her tea, she set the cup down again with a light clink. In the silence, it seemed as loud as a gong.

"It's about time," she spoke. Tekkan didn't respond, but she knew he agreed. "You've stayed here long enough. You should return to Earth soon." Her hand finally stopped combing through his hair and patted the top instead. For the first time that day with any gentleness in her voice, she asked, "You aren't sore, are you?"

Tekkan hummed in negation. "I'm fine." He sat up, showing his grace and reluctance all at once. Knowing now would be a rare gentle moments for her, he turned to face her, smiling warmly. "Thank you." Her returned smile was as bright as her name, and just as quickly vanishing. Face now returned to her normal demeanor, she nodded. Knowing the moment was over and he was dismissed, Tekkan left her bed. Before he left the room, he remembered his own demeanor for the world outside this room and wore it again, like it was his true skin. By the time he was piloting his zord back to Earth, he was again Tetsu Aida, the Deka Break ranger. He kept the comfort of the day as deeply inside himself as a child's love.

Author's Notes: Feed my ego, not my ire. No trolls and no rabid fanboys/girls. Otherwise review. 

I am surprised to hear Lisa/Tetsu is a common pairing, at least in Japan. There is no pairing mentioned in summary because there is no intended sexual pairing in this fanfic. Please read deeper into it.


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